ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a basic mapping of the ambassador appointments made world-wide in 2014, to show the variations among countries and regions in terms of sending and receiving male and female ambassadors. It shows that female ambassadors are more likely to be posted in states of lower military and economic standing whereas men are overrepresented in states of greater military and economic clout. The chapter aims to dig deeper into the military aspect of ambassador appointments. It begins by briefly situating our contribution in the literature on gender and diplomacy as well as that on diplomatic careers. The chapter discusses the theoretical foundations of the study, including the reasons one may expect men and women to end up in different positions in diplomacy. It also provides a concluding discussion of the implications of the relationship between gender, militarism, and violence for diplomatic careers.
